The Thailand Open regrets to announce that Andy Murray has withdrawn from this year’s tournament. Andy’s management has informed us that he will be undergoing a surgical procedure this coming week, and they will be issuing a full press release shortly. We wish him a full and speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming him back to the Thailand Open in the coming years.

Perhaps he thought this was the best time to have it done before the end of the year. Before going to Australia and having to play 5 sets of tennis. It has been a problem for him and he feels it has to be done.

Why would he have his back op now when it would put him out for the rest of the year?

Perhaps because he would do more damage by playing on, I suspect it will be keyhole surgery, and that he will be over it very quickly. I had keyhole surgery to remove a spur ( a piece of bone) from my shoulder which was trapping the nerve, within the week I was able to move my arm without any pain.

We are making assumptions. There are many reasons for someone to have a 'surgical procedure'. If it was serious surely he would have withdrawn from Tokyo as well. Isn't there only one week between Thailand and Tokyo?